# Kettle logic

*Also called: Inconsistent defence*

- **Cluster:** Distraction and distortion — Moving the argument somewhere easier to win
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/kettle-logic/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/kettle-logic.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Piling up defences that contradict each other, each undermining the others.

## In the wild

> I never borrowed it, it was already broken, and I returned it fine.

## How to answer it

List the defences side by side and ask which one is being claimed.

## Origin and naming

Named after an example in Freud's 'The Interpretation of Dreams' (1900): a man accused of returning a borrowed kettle damaged replies that he never borrowed it, that it was already broken when he got it, and that he returned it intact. Three defences, each canceling the others.

## More places it shows up

- A contractor accused of overbilling insists the invoice was never sent, that the extra hours were pre-approved, and that the client actually asked for the upgrades.
- An MP caught at a lobbyist's dinner says he wasn't there, that it was a public fundraiser, and that he paid for his own meal.
- A student whose essay matches a website claims she wrote it herself, that great minds think alike, and that the site probably copied her draft.
- A driver denies hitting the parked car, adds that the dent was old anyway, and mentions his bumper has been scratched since last winter.

## How to spot it

- Notice when each new defence quietly assumes the previous one was false.
- Notice when the speaker never commits to a single version of events for more than a sentence.
- Notice when you could accept any one excuse only by rejecting the others.

## Nearby

- [Ad hoc rescue](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/ad-hoc-rescue.md)
- [Gish gallop](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/gish-gallop.md)
- [Special pleading](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/special-pleading.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_logic)

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From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.